Masks are urged for Tennessee students
State encouraging middle, high schoolers
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee Department of Education is encouraging school districts to require middle and high school students, and all staff members, to wear face masks as schools reopen this fall.
During a press briefing Tuesday, Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn said the department is encouraging face coverings be worn in schools, but the department is leaving it up to local school districts to mandate masks.
Previously guidance on the state education department website said face coverings for all students were expected as part of other prevention measures.
The documents, which include protocols for preventing the spread of COVID-19 in schools and include recommendations from the Tennessee Department of Health, were updated on the website Tuesday afternoon.
When asked whether the expectation meant the department was requiring students to wear masks in schools, Chelsea Crawford, the commissioner’s chief of staff, clarified it is a recommendation, not a requirement.
“The intent here is expectation and encouragement means the same thing, which is different [from] mandate and requirement,” Crawford told The Tennessean Wednesday morning. “We know there are some schools who are requiring masks, but from the
state’s prerogative it is not a requirement and it was not at any time a change in direction.”
Whether students should have to wear masks to return to the classroom has been a contested topic as schools reopen across the state this fall.
Some say it is impossible to enforce mask rules in school buildings or for some of the youngest students to wear a mask all day. Others cite medical conditions preventing them from wearing a mask or question the legality of mask mandates in general. A group of Williamson parents formed this summer to oust members of the Williamson County Board of Education due to the district’s mask requirement.
Other parents have expressed reservations about sending their children back to school if masks are not required, noting medical evidence that shows masks can help stop the virus from spreading.
This week, the Germantown Municipal School District announced it would require all students to wear masks “at all times” after relaxing original language to “recommending” it in a July 31 plan. Memphis parents had raised concerns about the potential transmission of the virus in schools.
Other districts across the state including Coffee County Schools and Putnam County Schools are also requiring masks for all students.
School district reopening plans and requirements vary widely. And some schools already have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases since reopening.
In its original guidance released in partnership with Gov. Bill Lee, the state education department listed these prevention requirements for all students: cloth face coverings, social distancing, hand hygiene and [putting] students and staff into small groups that remain together over time as much as possible.
Schwinn said Tuesday that such precautions are expected in schools, but said that mask requirements are up to local discretion.
“To be clear, we do expect that schools are taking the necessary precautions,” she said. “That they’re doing social distancing, frequent hand washing, hand-sanitizing, etc. If all of those things are taken into account and all those procedures are put into place and keeping people safe, that’s what we expect our schools to be doing.”
Schwinn’s stance reflects that of the governor, who has not ordered a statewide mask mandate despite pressure to do so and evidence released this week by Vanderbilt that shows that hospilizations have declined in places with widespread mask wearing.
The education department has kept to making recommendations rather than requiring things of districts since the pandemic began — this spring, Lee recommended schools close until the end of the school year without ordering them to do so, and both Lee and Schwinn have pressured school districts to open in-person, without mandating it this fall.
Contact Meghan Mangrum at mmangrum@tennessean.com.
“The intent here is expectation and encouragement means the same thing, which is different [from] mandate and requirement.”
Chelsea Crawford
Education commissioner’s chief of staff